Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, when university students demonstrated against China’s political corruption and authoritarianism. The Chinese military cracked down with force. Photographs of the “Tank Man,” a lone guy with shopping bags who stood in the way of an advancing line of tanks, became the symbol of the protests for the rest of the world (it’s largely unfamiliar to Chinese, because it’s been censored).

Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq), 2003-present160,000 service members, 4,299 Americans dead, $671 billionHUMAN CASUALTIES ON MAJOR WARS SO FAR: 1,294,039TOTAL SPENT ON MAJOR WARS SO FAR: $6.51406 trillion*This number is widely disputed and current estimates are closer to 8,000.

** Includes Confederate soldiers

(All totals were adjusted for 2008 dollars and do not account for veteran benefits, foreign aid, or interest. Most death tolls are official government totals and do not account for controversial deaths. All service members totals are U.S. armed forces and auxiliary forces, and do not account for private contractors.)

Sources: Oxford Companion to American Military History; United States Department of Defence; The New York Times; The Brookings Institute; CRS Report for Congress

We are all witness!! As much as people compare LJ to MJ, it’s about time he made an MJ type play.

Moments before the shot, Turkoglu seemed to secure a 2-0 series lead when he hit a jumpshot, to go up by two, over three defenders with only 1.0 second left on the clock. Surely, that would’ve meant a crushing loss for the Cavaliers and most-likely a conference championship for Orlando. But, in true Jordan fashion, Lebron takes an inbound pass, at the top of the arch, from Mo Williams and wets a buzzer-beating three to win the game by 1 point! A shot that is sure to live on in NBA history. Coach Mike Brown said it best, “An amazing shot by an amazing player.” He’s made the remarkable shots, now all he needs is some championship rings…

Sophisticated Youth returns! with a FRESH outlook and MAJOR plans for 2009/2010 and beyonddd!! Stay tuned to keep up with the most awesomest news, crispiest threads, coolest gadgets, tastiest eats, funkiest sounds, illest peoples, wildest nights and all that is refreshing.